When One Person Changes, Everything Changes
by Crow22
Summary: Sai is a scientist at the age of 17. But there is a grave situation with his main project that could destroy the entire Land of Fire. Sai could think of of one person who could help him fix it. But something happened to him, something changed


**AU: I've never published anything, so this is the first. R&R so i know what to do better**

**Disclaimer: i obviously don't own Naruto or any of the characters **

The less than perfect system wasn't working any longer. The chaos and confusion was threatening to expand past the thinly disguised mask they veiled over the failure. No one could guess how massive the destruction of the basic substitute binary adapter truly would be. Sai strode down the lab halls of the factory with hurried steps. The fear that resided deep within him was an odd sensation when he thought himself to be emotionless. Nothing he had done had even stemmed the disorder the failed machinery had started leaking. His own staff had started to feel panicked.

"Sai!" At the sound of his name, he reluctantly stopped and turned to the source hoping to send them away quickly. What he saw discouraged him from even thinking of any further ploys to get rid of them.

"Agh, Sakura, Lady Tsunade, nice to see you both again." He felt his life slipping farther and farther into hell. He threw as bright a smile he could toward them. He already knew the harder he tried the faker his smiles seemed to get.

"Why are you in such a hurry? I thought everyone would be home for this vacation." Tsunade said suspiciously. Sai's smile slipped slightly.

"Yes, I just wanted to get back to my lab before I head home." His voice was slightly strained, but Tsunade decided to over look it.

"Then just head home. It's so late already. Maybe you should stop by the club the rest of the chunin are at tonight." Tsunade voiced it more as a command than as a suggestion, making it impossible to ignore. Sai lowered his head in defeat and nodded.

"Yes, Lady Hokage." He started to quickly back away toward the exiting door when it exploded inward.

"Sai! Come on out, before you become like Shino studying his damn bugs!" Kiba on top of Akimaru roared with excitement. Sai cringed as the loud voice reverberated through out the empty hall ways. Loud sounds had always disturbed the emotionless shinobi. Naruto, Neji and Shikamaru entered after Kiba, all of them wearing party cloths.

"We're going out tonight. We can stop by your house to get some cloths. You're working to hard again." Neji laughed at Sai's crestfallen look. "You can't escape us for long, man."

"To fight us off all the time is getting to be a drag. I have better things to do other than convince you to come with us." Shikamaru took a drag of the cigarette he held.

"No smoking in the labs." Sai automatically spoke, blushing as he realized how nerdy that sounded. "I mean, so you don't set something off, yeah." His face was flushed as he turned back to Sakura and Tsunade.

"We'll see you next week after your vacation." Tsunade said pointedly staring at Sai in a way he couldn't look away.

"Can I take time off in a couple of-"

"Are you arguing with me, lowly Shinobi?" Tsunade's voice echoed all around them, striking Sai many times over.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Lady Tsunade."

Sai reluctantly followed after Naruto and the others all the while thinking on how to get back to his lab. Tsunade didn't ban him from the building after all. That was his only loophole around the forced vacation. He was so lost in thought that he didn't realize they were in his apartment and searching through his things until Kiba made a loud remark about how sparse his rooms were kept. Sai didn't know why it seemed so surprising. He did hardly anything else but sleep in the bed, and he did that rarely as well.

"Yeah, I keep it really clean I guess." Sai made sure his smile was in place and laughed lightly to give it more impact. From their impressions, he decided it didn't work to well.

"Then why is there dust covering almost everything?" The ever observant Neji felt the need to point out as he drew his finger across one of the shelves containing Sai's collection. It was almost amusing for Neji as he read the titles. Almost every book there was a book on emotions. Everyone knew he was getting better at showing his true feelings and even cracked a real smile sometimes. But he still attempted to wield his emotions.

"But this painting is wicked. Where did you get this idea?" Shikamaru asked as he examined a demon of some sort on the wall. The picture made Sai freeze with sudden anxiousness. He couldn't recall what it was, but he knew he was feeling something akin to discomfort.

"Why don't you guys wait over here while I find something to wear?" He turned away before any of them could see his face in case any of the confusing emotion showed through his mask. It was then that he noticed Naruto standing near the door to his bedroom.

"Wear this." It was all Naruto said as he tossed some cloths at Sai. The surprise ninja had lived up to his name and surprised them all a year ago when he took off without saying anything. Tsunade and everyone else who knew him were against putting him in the records as a missing Nin, but there were rumors that drifted with the traveling ninja of a shinobi who was making a legend for himself calling himself the Toad Sage. The shinobi matched Naruto's description, but the behavior was off. But then he came back home just under a month ago. The rumors were confirmed when Naruto was stopped numerous times by some of the travelers. Yet the biggest change was in the abnormal way he had acted. It wasn't the same Naruto who had left them.

"Um, thanks Naruto." Sai hesitated as he entered his room. The interior was dark with only one small light source in the room. For that Sai was grateful. The walls were covered with dry, ink black paint that would never flake or fade if he did not put effort into their disappearance. The images were not organized nor were they themed. They were 'Sai' in every sense, produced from the deepest depth of his mind. If he knew that Naruto had the sharpest night vision, he would have mortified to have a witnessed what he had recorded of his emotions. The scenes ranged from meeting a person to his first encounter with arousal at witnessing a couple intimately kissing in a shadowed doorstep.

Sai exhaled deeply as he thought about everything around him. They were the only thing that he could fully control. There was always a paint brush on him at all times with a small never ending ink pot. Painting was his passion after all, and he would never forgive anyone who tried to take that away from him. He glanced down at the cloths he still clutched in his hands and blushed. The only kind of cloths Sai owned were normal and casual cloths, but Naruto somehow combined an outfit that seemed perfect for partying. Sai knew he would never have put a black tee-shirt with tears through out it on accompanied would he have worn light blue jeans with similar tears with black leggings on underneath. He was startled to see that the clothing fit snuggly against his lean body, and actually looked good. When he walked back into his living room, the others were lounging on his couch and chairs laughing at something Neji had said. Even though he hadn't been noticed yet, Sai didn't feel left of the conversation. A small smile formed on his lips.

"Agh! There you are. We know where we're gonna go! And nice outfit, man. Makes you look sleek compared to your usual smart look." Kiba laughed as they migrated to the door together without any prompting. They seemed to move as one. Naruto glanced back and grinned as he gave Sai a once over look.

"I knew the jeans would look good on you." He tossed him two silver bracelets as he leisurely descended the steps. Sai stood there shocked for a few seconds before he snapped forward.

"Uh, thanks again." He muttered as he slipped the bracelets onto his thin wrist and closed the door behind him. For just one night, he would let himself drown in a careless indulgence. He would swim back to reality soon enough.

They made their way through the lower district of Konoha. The music was loud enough to here on the roads outside of the clubs. As preoccupied as he was before, Sai finally took notice of everyone else's attire. Shikamaru wore a three-quarter length acid green sweatshirt with a black tee underneath. The dark jeans hung off his narrow hips slightly, but it gave him an aura of arrogance that was alluring. Sai didn't know how he was perceived by the others, but he decided he didn't want to know the comparison between him and any of them.

Kiba sported a black and red striped long-sleeved shirt. Instead of pants, he wore long khaki shorts with a splash of red fashionably threaded through his right leg. He couldn't stop swaying to the rhythm of the bass that beat around them. The little impulse gave him a sexy flare that seemed to attract women from either side of him as he passed them by.

Neji smiled at a gorgeous woman who plucked his black sleeve. The dress shirt brought attention to his beautiful lilac eyes that gleamed in a mischievous manner. His dress slacks were formal, yet still casual enough to dance in. The white cloth that was always across his forehead was taken off for the night as he let the world see the tattoo he was forced to cope with at a young age. Such a tattoo had the effect to call notice to the owner and thus explained some of the almost predatory looks he was getting.

But the one who shined out of them all had to be Naruto. He wore a plain white dress shirt slightly similar to Neji's, but he hadn't bothered to button the top buttons, not caring if he showed off his strong muscled chest. His black jeans clung to his legs like black sin. Every step he took tightened his legs, flexing them provocatively. The careless look on his face almost seemed bored, but the small smirk on his lips would have made any woman's heart stop for a few seconds. His atmosphere seemed almost dejected compared to the rest, making him stick out all the more. The mature look of his eyes made him seem to be in another class. A class the others couldn't get to yet.

"Man, which club should we hit up first? I just really want to start dancing." Kiba, always full of energy, spun in a quick circle. Sai felt a twinge of emotion. The memory of reading something in one of his books reminded him of the name. Envy. Kiba moved well. When he danced, there was always an animalistic trait to style. Sai never tried to dance or talk to anyone whenever he was rarely caught and dragged out. But he knew instinctively that there was something different about this night.

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AU: I need help on picking a club name. if anyone has a suggestion, let me know plz


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